Historic Phillips 66 gymnastics meet begins Friday

Thursday

Nov 21, 2013 at 11:15 AM

Lyndon Johnson served as president, Vietnam seemed just another faraway place, the term internet described a bad volleyball hit, Ronald Reagan enjoyed retirement from acting and hadn’t entered politics and Bob Stoops finger-painted in kindergarten when Phillips 66 sponsored its first girls gymnastics meet.

Lyndon Johnson served as president, Vietnam seemed just another faraway place, the term internet described a bad volleyball hit, Ronald Reagan enjoyed retirement from acting and hadn’t entered politics and Bob Stoops finger-painted in kindergarten when Phillips 66 sponsored its first girls gymnastics meet.

Obviously, the world has transformed itself in many ways — some of them not so good — since 1964.

But, the Phillips 66 Gymnastics Invitational Championships remains what it was back in the mid-1960s — a showcase for some of the nation’s top girls’ gymnasts.

And, this year’s invitational — the 48th edition — has grown to mega-proportions.

The three-day event gets under way Friday, at the Adams Gymnasium.

"We’ll have 25 percent more gymnasts than we’ve ever had before," longtime Phillips 66 Gymnastics Club head coach Sam Barto said Wednesday evening. "This year’s meet will have more than 850 kids. I think it makes a strong statement on the hospitality of Phillips and by our staff and everything. It has really grown over the years."

This year’s competitive groups will include USA Gymnastics Levels 3 through 10, and Tulsa Area Gymnasts (TAG), Levels 1 through 4.

The TAG competitions are planned for Sunday, while the USA Gymnastics battles for glory will take place Friday and Saturday.

The Phillips 66 club will enter more than 100 kids into the weekend event.

"We’re excited about it," said Barto. "Our kids are really excited. They’ve been working hard to prepare. We have quite a few talented kids in every age group."

One of the "senior" statesmen for the Phillips 66 club is Level 10 dynamo Ginaphr Seat, who the past two years has qualified for a national competition.

"She’s looking great," Barto said about the Bartlesville High School upper classmen. "She’s being recruited by a lot of really good schools. She’s very healthy and strong and has developed several new skills."

Barto said he’s certain Seat is the top Level 10 gymnast in Oklahoma and one of the best in the nation.

Her level’s competition is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

While gymnastic prodigies like Seat have worked through the program during the past several decades, and moved on to adult pursuits, the invitational — like Ol’ Man River — keeps rollin’ along.

"As far as we know, the Phillips invitational is probably the longest running gymnastics meet in the country," said Barto, adding the turnout this year by local and out-of-town gymnasts is especially gratifying.

"I was surprised we had so many kids," he explained. "This is probably the biggest meet in the state."

This weekend’s invitational is one of two major annual home meets hosted by Phillips.

The P66 GC already has plunged into the season, carving out a successful showing two weeks ago in Oklahoma City.